OnePlus 5T: What's better than OnePlus 5, what's not

It's a true budget flagship smartphone, says Ashish Narsale.

Photograph: Courtesy oneplusstore.in

It's been only 4 months since the release of the OnePlus 5, and the Chinese handset maker has already released its upgraded flagship -- the OnePlus 5T.

The phone -- which broke the company's launch-day sales records with the first early access sale on November 21 -- will be available in India tomorrow on another one-hour early access sale.

The OnePlus 5T comes with just a minor upgrade. So, is it worth choosing it over the OnePlus 5?

Highlights:

• Full vision AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio.
• Dash charge
• Dual camera
• Octa-core processor Snapdragon 835
• 6/8 GB RAM
• 3.5mm Audio Jack
• Face unlock

Missing flagship features:

• No SD card slot
• No IP rating for water and dust resistance
• No dual speakers
• No OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) in camera
• Display resolution is just 1080p (1080 x 2160) not 4K
• No wireless charging

Also read: How good is the OnePlus 5?

Photograph: Courtesy oneplusstore.in

Design

The OnePlus 5T is built with a modern design.

It has a screen ratio of 18:9 -- a full-vision display -- to compete with competitors.

The OnePlus 5T measures 6.01 inches, with display resolution of 1080p, which is much lower then its counterparts.

The body is made up of anodized aluminum, which negates the possibility of wireless charging, but makes the phone sturdy.

As 80 percent of the space is taken by the display, the fingerprint scanner moves to the back.

The phone comes with a grill at the bottom for mono speakers.

Hardware

Like it's predecessor, the OnePlus 5, this one also runs on the Snapdragon 835 CPU.

It is available in variants of 6GB RAM/64GB ROM and 8GB RAM/128GB ROM.

Camera

The OnePlus 5T has a dual primary camera setup, but different from the OnePlus 5.

OnePlus 5 comes with a wide 16 MP f/1.7 and a telephoto 20 MP f/2.6 setup. The OnePlus 5T comes only with wide lenses --  both with a f/1.7 aperture. The company claims it is optimized for low-light photography.

However, instead of the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T's OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) -- better for low light photography -- the OnePlus 5T (like the OnePlus 5) opts for EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization).

OIS is used to reduce motion blur during camera shakes. EIS uses electronic processing whereas OIS works within the lens optics. As a result, EIS may produce more noise in the image.

Battery

The battery remains the same, 3300 mAh, but has fast charging with the company's proprietary Dash Charger.

Charging through the Dash Charge for just 30 minutes gives a whole day's battery life.

The Dash Charger is included in the box.

Software

It was expected to have the latest Android Oreo, but the OnePlus 5T comes with fully customisable Oxygen OS 4.7 based on Android Nougat 7.1.1 out of the box.

Verdict

The OnePlus 5T misses a few flagship features, making it a true budget flagship smartphone at ₹32,000.

-- With inputs from PTI and ANI